Friday, July 27, 2012

HOUSE STAGING

We all know that to sell a house in this market is tough. You really have to appeal to the emotional side of the buyer.....which is when people found out that a nicely decorated home would sell quicker. That....and clean closets, clean basements, garages....and a good de-clutter!

My friend called the the other day and said that I HAD to come see a home in my neighborhood that had just been staged to sell.

This home had been a rental for 15 years. It was being sold as a "FSBO" or "for sale by owner" or "Fo' Shizzle My Nizzle"!

I also know the person who owns it and staged it as well [she lives in the neighborhood]. We both laughed at the mention of stopping for items that people put on the curb for trash!

Support group.

Here are some of the pictures I took when I got there....

This house was probably built in the late 40's. Some of the things they did were add these great gutters....

New roof....and I love the dark gray trim with the red brick. She told me they did everything in 2 weeks.

This is a small house. By adding the mirror on the fireplace wall it really expanded the room. Didn't fool me though.....All of these furnishings were either from her basement or thrift stores.

Thrift shop or not I was about to jump on these chairs. Notice she just added a white platter on the tray.

Painted the tile surround white.

Threw a piece of marble on top of this cabinet and added mirror on the doors.

Painted these lamps white.....Old sofa...

Plastic chargers from the dollar store. All smoke and mirrors....

In the dining room there was a small round table....when I say small....this is the only eating area. The sofa looked so cute in there...but of course not really practical!

Original cabinets [1940's people].....painted...new knobs. Then the mirrored backsplash...yep. Blind them with bling! She did put in new granite countertops and sink.

Cute bath. Notice 2 mirrors...just to help make the space seem larger. She hung the shower curtain to the ceiling and I think that chandelier is from Ikea.

One of the 3 bedrooms.

This was a little area off the "master" upstairs. They left the floors natural. Now I have to be honest. If you were a little drunk tipsy....it would be hard to get up these steep and narrow stairs. But hey...it was decorated so cute that you might not think of that.

Curtain finials used for door knobs.

Same room....exposed brick wall.

Small alcove in the master upstairs. Like I could put my makeup on there.....where is the 10X magnifying mirror?

Silk curtains in the master bath......

This is how she staged the backyard.....

People...there is not even a driveway to this house [only street parking]. Including the master upstairs it is a 3/2. The only living and dining space are the ones I showed you. The kitchen is the size of a postage stamp. In my opinion is was a tad over priced.

The first thing I noticed is where can I put my TV...priorities right?

Well I am here to tell you it sold in ONE day. Uh Huh. I was shocked. But it just goes to show you that sometimes charming will wow them.....

It reminds me of when I bought my first house. I was 25 years old. It was a townhouse AND it was the model. I was also blinded and did not even negotiate.....then they took all of the pretty stuff out.

Crikey it was ugly.

I am not really sure what the moral of this post is.....

Hey remember the RL fabric that I am using in the ORC??? I found a picture where they used it on chairs.Die.

It came today and I have had it in every room of my house....just to see if it would work.

Of course those beautiful dark walls are killing me also.

And you guys have to remind me to tell my "croc" story.....it is pretty damn funny.

43 comments
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who cares if there was a point? (LOL) i loved seeing those pics and i can see why it sold quickly...however once the homeowner takes her stuff out and the new owner moves in, it might be a different story!

We have staged our house to sell too. Had a stager come in and did everythig she suggested: that is, removed every ounce of personality we had in here. We have had 3 people look at the house in 5 wees. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO frustrating. All good feedback but NO offers. Plus we are building a new house that will be done in Oct. so I am gettig VERY nervous. I am very happy for your neighbor, she really lucked out. XO, Pinky

sherry that was an awesome post - shows how if you have a little elbow grease and some know-how (oh yeah - maybe some style would be a must in this equation) you can make anything look spiffy-ed up!! i love it!

Sherry, Sherry I don't care about any "Point of the Story"...I love reading your words!!! I figure she must have had St. Joseph upside down somewhere in the shrubs in the front! I'm dying to see where Ralphy ends up!

They did a brilliant job of staging it! Love the mirror on top of mirror in the living area, and the mirrored backsplash in the kitchen. And that sink with the little skirt,Ooooo so cute. Of course there was NOTHING on the counters... mine would be reflecting my keys, and computer, and grocery bags, and lord know what else! I kinda like the sofa in the dining area too... it's charming!

Well this really does illistrate the point well..that you dont' need an unlimited budget to make a home appealing, this house has so much appeal, absoulutely gorgeous and so fresh and clean and crisp...very very well done!

Great little tips for staging! Cute lil house. And that fabric OH EM GEE! and Im going to ask a stupid question- you said its a RL fabric- Im going to assume you mean Ralph Lauren?? Ive never seen this fabric before and I now cant get it out of my head- thanks a lot!! It may be just the missing piece for my new living room & dining room makeover.

It's amazing how far staging goes. I just staged a house that had been on the market for THREE years and she finally called me for help. LOTS of cleaning, purging and repositioning of rooms and it sold to the 2nd person through for MORE than the asking price. How's THAT in today's market place? xo Diana

That house had me at the exterior. total charm. The inside was masterfully done, and I am a big fan of mirror on the backsplash of a small kitchen. Just glam enough. Now that fabric -- I would have to fight you for it given the chance. I am passing out over the velvet of the sofa against that wall color. Sooooo cozy-elegant.

Okay. I love you, Carol@HouseandHomeDefined, but I beg to differ. I love that vintage kitchen but that mirror absolutely ruins it. It's heinous! I would have asked for a discount just because it's so horrible.

On the other hand, that RL fabric is off the freakin' hook, lady. I want some!

They really did an incredible job with the staging. I'm amazed that people have that much extra stuff that they can furnish a whole house {even if it's super small!} Her husband probably kept nagging her to get rid of it and she was like, "NO I NEED IT!" and he's like "Even these three extra sofas?!" and she said "YES." haha!

I can never get over how people can't see past ugly carpeting and colors in a house and envision what it could be, but it's so true, staging is everything! What a cute little house - I love how sophisticated the owner made it with furnishings, curtains and mirrors. I could see how someone would snatch it up!

I am so glad you posted pics of the exterior. We have been thinking about dark gray window trim for awhile now (currently ours is the builder white, so in 20 years ago). Everyone is going darker now, but we weren't sure about gray. I mean, most are using beige/tan...and even what I like to affectionately call "baby poop" color! LOL We have a lot of charcoal and gray blue in our brick and a charcoal gray roof.

Definitely a good staging job. Poor new homeowners! What's going to happen when the paint starts peeling off the fp and every speck of water shows up on the backsplash. Oh well, it served its purpose! Love the large basket hung on the wall like a shelf.

had an incredible shopping trip yesterday at restoration hardware outlet. chaching. will be heading back tomorrow to do more damage. my 17 yr old decided to it would be ok to sleep on the new sofa last night though...i am not sure how to handle this since he is now too old to sell on the street. that sweaty kid on my new belgian linen!!!!

Great post! Reminds me of my first house in Marin County, CA that I sold in 2001. What showed like a cottage charmer looked more like a double wide trailer when we moved all of our furniture out (and a very expensive one at that after all it was Marin).

Aw, what a cute little house. And, that's what decorating does - makes you dream of "that" life and forget that your crap may look different in there. And, it's awesome how it makes you overlook the flaws. Sweet! Awesome that it sold quickly. Oh, and we've done two fsbo sales now and it was awesome! Great experiences.

Haha! Well, good for her! By the time we are ready to move I hope to have made my 1800 sqft home seem MASSIVE! ;) You have the best, quirkiest, funniest posts ever, by the way. Have a good weekend!Rosa

I am the new homeowner of this house and would have purchased it with not one stick of furniture it in at all, old paint on the walls, etc. The staging looked beautiful but did not influence our decision to buy one bit. We were looking for character and charm over other elements and found that in this house. I am an interior designer and can say from a professional standpoint that this house did not need the "smoke and mirrors" to have us make an offer. I can see past all that and recognized the amazing potential and historical character that can't be duplicated in new construction.. PS the house was built in 1938.